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Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, Rear Admiral Peter Brady, has been elected to chair the June 21 to 25 Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Diplomatic Conference, now underway in Manila, Philippines. This is the first time that Jamaica has been elected to chair such a conference. The focus of the 2010 conference is to consider,...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has reiterated his call for lower interest rates to private sector investors, adding that this was the way to a better future for Jamaica. He lauded the Credit Unions for their efforts at assisting small and medium-sized businesses at low interest rates, and for what they were contributing to the...

Three hundred women-owned small and medium sized businesses are to benefit from a project to improve their business skills, and increase their access to finance. The project valued at just under $40 million is being financed by a grant of over US$320,000 (approximately J$28 million) from the Inter-American Development Bank/Multilateral Investment Fund (IDB/MIF), and over US$130,000 (approximately J$11 million) raised...

Spanish Town Mayor, Dr. Andrew Wheatley, has called on landowners in St. Catherine to pay their property tax to ensure the adequate delivery of services such as street light and garbage collection. Speaking at a Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) certificate of title handing over ceremony on Tuesday (June 15) at the Point Hill Baptist Church, Dr. Wheatley lamented...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will open the doors of its Resident Representative Office in Jamaica, on Monday, June 14. The opening of the office, which will be based at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) in downtown Kingston, coincides with the appointment of the first IMF representative to Jamaica in some 15 years, Dr. Gene Leon, who was formally introduced...

The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has granted US$221,000 (J$19.12M) to assist in finalising the divestment of Air Jamaica. Agreement for the grant was signed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon Audley Shaw, and U.S. Charge de Affairs in Kingston, Isiah Parnell, on Thursday (June 10). The Jamaican Government is currently in the transition phase...

Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Jamaica, Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni, says Jamaica is doing better than some other countries in the region, and across the world, as a result of the Government's determination to tackle the debt burden. Citing the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) programme introduced by the Government earlier this year, he pointed out that...

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has announced that effective today (June 4), the interest rate payable on the bank's 30-day Certificates of Deposit will be reduced by 50 basis points, that is, from 10.00 per cent to 9.50 per cent. A basis point (bp) is a unit relating to interest rates that is equal to 1/100th of a percentage point...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has suggested that new technologies be utilised to convert waste material into energy, to support development and growth in Jamaica. The Minister, who was speaking at the National Solid Waste Management Authority's (NSWMA) awards function on Friday (June 4) at the Courtleigh Auditorium, New Kingston, noted that Jamaica has been...

The Jamaican dollar closed trading last week at $86.83 to the United States (US) dollar, representing an appreciation of approximately three percent against the US currency since the beginning of the year. This is seen as a welcomed sign of improvements in some key macroeconomic fundamentals, and an indication that efforts by the Government to build confidence in the economy...

Financial Secretary, Dr. Wesley Hughes, says Jamaica's economic programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not have to be "drastically reordered", despite the negative impact the recent unrest in sections of Kingston will most likely have on the country's economic plans. Dr. Hughes, who was speaking recently on the Jamaica Information Service's current affairs programme, Issues and Answers, said...

For the financial year 2009/10 some $26 million was disbursed from the Self Start Fund to the small and micro enterprises (SMEs) sector. A ministerial report tabled recently in the House of Representatives said the Fund facilitated business loans to 113 entrepreneurs within the SME sector, with the average loan size being $200,000. Other achievements include creation/preservation of approximately 441...